1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital camera capable of printing instantly after photographing, and more particularly to a digital camera capable of printing instantly after photographing comprising: a display image pickup unit having a semiconductor image pickup device; and a print unit for scanning a print paper on which a photosensitive type microcapsule has been coated by a print head having light emitting devices and forming a latent image and mechanically pressing the print paper on which the latent image has been formed by a print roller and developing the latent image.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present applicant has developed a portable type printer for use with a digital camera and previously applied for patent (Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 9-152719). In this printer, a print paper on which a photosensitive type microcapsule has been coated is scanned by a print head having three kinds of light emitting devices of red, green, and blue and to thereby form a latent image, and then the latent image is developed through mechanically pressing the print paper on which the latent image has-been formed by a print roller. With respect to a tone, a saturation, and a lightness in printing, an intensity and an irradiation time of irradiation light beams in the light emitting devices are controlled.
The print paper is formed in a manner in which a photosensitive type microcapsule, which has a diameter of about 4 microns, is coated uniformly on a base paper and thereon, an image receiving layer including a developing agent is coated and further thereon, a polyester film is laminated. The microcapsule itself has light translucent property and a microcase made up of merely transparent gelatin having an intensity whose degree is a degree that the microcase might be destroyed through mechanically pressing by the print roller. A coupler which is included in the microcapsule is colorless leuco dye and a material which is colored by contacting the image receiving layer containing the developing agent. As for the coupler, correspondently to three primary colors of light, i.e., red (R), green (G), and blue (B), three primary colors of painting, i.e., magenta (M), yellow (Y), and cyan (C) are prepared. As a photo-curing material which is included in the microcapsule together with the coupler, light of color with a complementary color relation to a which is what appears as a result when the coupler contacts the receiving image layer and reacts is selected. That is, a material which cures in dependence on light of a specific wavelength is selected. With regard to the types of print paper, there is a print paper for monochrome on which only one kind of photosensitive type microcapsule has been coated and a print paper for full color of 256-gradations on which three kinds of photosensitive type microcapsules have been coated. Further, each of the foregoing types of print papers includes print papers for high sensitivity and for low sensitivity.
A printer using a print paper on which a photosensitive type microcapsule has been coated, according to one embodiment as shown in FIG. 4, comprises: a CPU 37; a ROM 38 in which a program for allowing various processes to be performed in accordance with a predetermined procedure has been stored; a DRAM 39 in which image data to be printed and related data such as various parameters are stored; and a control unit having an input/output interface 40 and a bus 41.
The printer also comprises: a print head 44 having light emitting devices for selectively irradiating light beams on the print paper and for forming a latent image; a print roller 45 for applying pressure to the print paper on which the latent image has been formed and for developing it; and a paper feed mechanism 46 for moving the print paper in one direction at a predetermined speed. The printer further comprises: a photosensitive control circuit 47 for controlling a selective light-emission and an irradiation quantity of the light emitting devices in the print head 44; a head driving unit 48 for moving the print head 44 reciprocatively in the direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the print paper; a roller driving unit 49 for driving the print roller 45; and a paper feed driving unit 50 for driving the paper feed mechanism 46. Furthermore, the printer also comprises: input means 42 for inputting image data from video image equipment such as a digital camera, which is supplied through a flash memory card or as transmission signals; and setting means 43 for setting various parameters of the printer or performing an image edit operation, etc.
A digital camera according to one embodiment, as shown in a block diagram of FIG. 5, has: an optical system 51 comprising a photographic lens, a stop, and a shutter; a semiconductor image pickup device 52 such as CCD or MOS transistor; and a solid state image display 53 comprising a semiconductor image display device such as LCD or TFT. The digital camera further has: an optical system driving circuit 54 for driving the optical system 51; an image pickup device driving circuit 55 for driving the semiconductor image pickup device 52; and a display driving circuit 56 for driving the solid state image display 53.
The digital camera also has: a CPU 57; a ROM 58 in which a program for allowing various processes to be executed in accordance with a predetermined procedure has been stored; a DRAM 59 for temporarily storing digital image signals outputted from the semiconductor image pickup device; a flash memory 60 serving as a built-in memory, which stores the digital image signals of an object to be photographed; and a control unit comprising an input/output interface 61 and a bus 62. An external interface 64 for connecting to an external communication line or an image input terminal of a TV and an/external memory interface 65 further constitutes the control unit. Connected to the external memory interface 65 is a connector 66 into which a storage medium such as a flash memory card is inserted.
The printer using the print paper on which the .photosensitive type microcapsule as shown in FIG. 4 has been coated is usually used, while being taken with the digital camera as shown in FIG. 5 at a photographing spot. Namely, the user such as a photographer takes a photograph by the digital camera, and thereafter copies and stores the digital image signals stored in the built-in memory in the digital camera to the flash memory card as an external memory. He then pulls out the flash memory card in which the digital image signals have been stored from the digital camera and inserts it into the card interface serving as an input unit of the printer. He stores digital still image signals into the built-in memory in the printer and thus completes preparation for printing. Such preparation for printing, however, is quite troublesome for the photographer, etc. In addition, although the printer is obvious, even if the digital camera is compact, its weight and volume might be remarkably large. It is consequently difficult to carry both printer and digital camera as mentioned above at the photographing spot, and also inconvenient to handle them.
An object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera capable of printing on print paper, on which the photosensitive type microcapsule has been coated, instantly just after photographing, and also to provide a digital camera which is easily carried and handled and inexpensive as well.
To solve the above problems, a digital camera capable of printing instantly after photographing according to the present invention comprises two units of: a print unit having a paper feed mechanism for feeding in one direction a print paper on which a photosensitive type microcapsule has been coated, a print head having light emitting devices for optically scanning on the basis of an image signal and for forming a latent image onto the print paper, a print roller for applying a mechanical pressure to the print paper on which the latent image has been formed and for developing the latent image, and a control unit having a CPU; and a display image pickup unit having a semiconductor image pickup device for converting a video image of a photographing object entering through an optical system into digital image signals. A card interface is provided for one of the display image pickup unit and the print unit. An interface into which the card interface is inserted is provided for the other unit, thereby enabling the display image pickup unit to be detachable from the print unit and the display image pickup unit is controlled by the control unit of the print unit.
The print unit is formed in a portable type and the display image pickup unit is formed in a card type. A solid state image display for displaying a photographing object is further provided for the display image pickup unit. Upon printing, the solid state image display displays an image to be printed by the print unit.